Scott Zeller, MD

Scott Zeller, MD, is Vituity’s Vice President for Acute Psychiatry. He previously served as Chief of Psychiatric Emergency Services at the Alameda Health System in Oakland, Calif. In more than 30 years of practice, he has personally cared for over 80,000 patients.

Dr. Zeller is known across the nation and around the world as a leading expert in psychiatric emergencies. He has authored multiple textbooks and numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and lectures internationally as a keynote speaker.

Additionally, he led the development of both U.S. and international guidelines on evaluation and treatment of agitation. He has published research on innovative designs for emergency mental healthcare, which he has also helped to implement in multiple centers.

Dr. Zeller is an Assistant Clinical Professor at both the University of California, Riverside and Touro University medical schools and is a past president of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry.

In 2015, the National Council on Behavioral Health named Dr. Zeller USA Doctor of the Year. In 2020, Dr. Zeller was recognized in the Healthcare Design Top 10 for his role in developing a better physical environment for acute behavioral health patients. It is also noteworthy that Dr. Zeller’s many accomplishments since 2011 occurred simultaneously to his fight against bone marrow cancer and disability due to a crushed spine from the cancer.

As a working emergency psychiatrist, healthcare executive, patient advocate, policy and change advocate, pioneer, innovator, and researcher, Dr. Scott Zeller’s leadership has resulted in a much higher standard of care for acute psychiatric patients nationwide and worldwide, which no doubt will continue for years to come.